Alfa Laval reapplies for USCG approval using ‘stain’ test

Alfa Laval became the first ballast water management system (BWMS) supplier to reapply for US Coast Guard (USCG) type-approval today (21 September) after its first application was rejected in December. That failure was because the USCG said the testing regime that it and others had used was not acceptable so Alfa Laval commissioned new tests on its PureBallast 3 family using the CMFDA/FDA ‘stain’ test protocol.

“Completing the testing in record time is due to hard work and dedication of our product development team,” Anders Lindmark, general manager, Business Centre PureBallast, told BWTT, soon after announcing the company’s application.

It carried out its own research tests at DHI in Denmark and BallastTech-NIVA in Norway with official testing being commissioned from DHI with class DNV GL preparing its a test report package. The class society is accredited as an independent laboratory by the USCG for this role.

In a statement, Mr Lindmark said the testing involved the same hardware, power consumption and flow as the IMO-approved version of PureBallast 3. Its results “conclusively demonstrate that PureBallast provides reliable biological disinfection at full flow in all water salinities,” he said. “The system has also met the rigorous mechanical and electrical testing verification schemes required by the US Coast Guard and IMO.”

Despite switching to the CMFDA/FDA method, it still supports work to validate the ‘Most Probable Number’ (MPN) method, which Alfa Laval believes this is preferable UV treatment systems. Its decision to use the alternative regime “was based on the importance of providing customers discharging in US waters with a type-approved solution as quickly as possible,” its statement said.